Common-law marriages

Common-law marriages have outlived their usefulness, and they also can create legal headaches. But thanks to Myrtle Beach Republican Luke Rankin's filibuster, common-law marriages appear safe in South Carolina for at least another year.

That's too bad. Rankin, a lawyer, led a spirited filibuster that helped beat down a sensible bill to end common-law marriage in this state. ...

Regardless of how long a couple has lived together or how intertwined their finances, they are not "common-law married" until a judge rules they are. And if estates are large or family relationships contentious, a lower judge's ruling can be appealed, all the way to the South Carolina Supreme Court. ...

It's easy for couples to tie the knot if they want the benefits of marriage. And it's high time our state Legislature made this a requirement.

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As we prepare to vote on a proposal to borrow nearly $163 million to build new schools and fix and expand old ones, state lawmakers are working on a bill that would allow local governments to create special tax districts to help pay for new schools.

Good news, right? As with most things in life, there is a catch -- or two or three. The biggest catch is that property owners would have to agree to the new tax, which would appear on property tax bills in subsequent years. ...

This proposal puts another negotiating arrow in the quiver of developers who want something from a town or county when it comes time to rezone property or negotiate a development agreement. It does relatively little for local governments. It is highly unlikely that a developer would agree to being included in such a district without getting something in return. Otherwise, why put themselves at a potential competitive disadvantage? ...

If this bill, approved by the House and now in a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, is signed into law as written, we can say goodbye to the idea of true school impact fees -- fees paid on all new construction. Lawmakers aren't likely to revisit it.

At the very least, lawmakers should drop requiring property owner approval and allow towns and counties to draw the boundaries for these districtas. Allowing owners to opt out does us little good, and our own state lawmakers should not pretend otherwise.

Spend grant money

Senate leaders insisted that they could not use the $16 million in their "Competitive Grants" slush fund to balance the budget -- as our editorial board, Gov. Mark Sanford and others have urged -- without passing a separate law. The same apparently is the case with the $21 million waiting to be used once lawmakers stop squabbling over where and how to build a network of farmers markets.

Fine. So pass the separate bills. ...

This is not a complicated matter that needs studying. ....

In a year when lawmakers can't find enough money to replace two-decade-old school buses, can't maintain their commitment to the endowed chairs program that is transforming our economy, can't pay for the tourism advertising that is keeping our economy afloat until it is transformed, when they're closing down prisons (but not releasing any prisoners, or even slowing the flow of nonviolent offenders into the prisons), it's inconceivable that they would fail to tap these pots of money.